The course is overgrown, unmarked and exceptionally tough. Usually, though, the race takes place on the first weekend of April – although it sometimes happens in March (in order to protect its secrecy).

However, when and how is a well-kept secret – and there is no race website. In theory, one simply has to send in an application by post, along with a non-refundable registration fee of $1.60. The application process is a bit of a secret. How do you qualify for the Barkley marathons? Known as the “human sacrifice”, the participant is given bib number 1. These are mainly comprised of elites, but Cantrell does select one runner who he deems to have “no business being here”. Howie Stern / inov-8 Field size and compositionĭespite its growing popularity, the race consists of only 40 runners each year. It’s one of the breakthrough achievements in ultrarunning yet little is known about the enigmatic Williams, who turns down interviews. In 1995, Williams completed the course in 59:28:48. Who was the first person to finish the Barkley?Ī Brit, of course: Mark Williams. Unimpressed, Cantrell, an ultrarunner, thought he could cover 100 miles in that time. Sixty hours later, following a huge manhunt, Ray was found – having travelled only eight miles. In 1977, James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr, escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in the town of Petros in Morgan County, Tennessee. It involves five loops of a (roughly) 20-mile course and there is a 60-hour cut-off point. And most years, no one finishes at all.Ĭreated by founder Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell, the Barkley has become known as “the race that eats its young”.

But only 17 people have completed this gruesomely tough race in Tennessee, US. More than 6,000 people have scaled Mount Everest another 1,800 people have swum the British Channel. Only the toughest running race on the planet, that’s what. Want to know more about the Barkley Marathons? Here’s our essential guide to the world’s toughest race….

Download barkley marathon finishers